Use a spanned course in myCourses
- Jacqueline Kort Mascort (Deactivated)
A “spanned” course refers to a course that extends across multiple semesters. These courses also extend across multiple sections in myCourses. A course that spans across two semesters (e.g. Fall-Winter) will be marked as D1 and D2. A spanned course that runs from Fall semester to Summer will have three sections in myCourses, marked as J1, J2, and J3. For example, a spanned DENT-101 course that runs from September 2013 into the Summer semester has three sections:
Fall 2013 - DENT-101J1-001
Winter 2014 - DENT-101J2-001
Summer 2014 - DENT-101J3-001
If you have a spanned course, you have two options when the new semester begins:
Use all sections of a spanned course
Using all sections is recommended because it will reduce student confusion at the beginning of the semester and avoids students having to constantly scroll past old content from the prior semester and empty shells from the current semester.
This option is mandatory if you are using the Lecture Recording System because you must enable and access lecture recordings for additional semesters from the appropriate D2, J2, and J3 sections in myCourses.
The links below will explain how to enable your additional D2 or J2 and J3 course sections in Minerva, copy components into them, enable lecture recordings for the current semester, and copy grades if necessary.
If you copy selected components from a past semester into your current semester, don't forget to update your course Navigation Bar and Course Home page.
If you are using the Lecture Recording System, sign up for lecture recordings for the current semester.
If you are using the Grades tool, copy the grades from the past semester into the new one with these steps:
Use one section for all semesters of a spanned course
Some instructors prefer to keep everything in the first section (e.g. the D1, J1, or N1) of a spanned course.
This option may cause student confusion (see warning below) and is not recommended unless you are NOT using the Lecture Recording System, you have ongoing threads in Discussions, and your other sections have not been activated.
To use one section, the only action required is to change the End Date of your course.
Click Course Admin on your course Navigation Bar.
Click Course Offering Information.
Change or deselect the End Date.
Click Save.
If you do not remove or change this date, students will see a “Course ended” message in their course list and any participants added as Guests will not be able to access the course.
If any additional sections have been activated and appear in your course list in myCourses, these unused sections will appear as empty courses to student which may be confusing. It is recommended to post an announcement in these sections instructing students to access all material in the first section.